On This Day In 1998: Sachin Tendulkar’s Match-Winning All-Round Show Vs Pakistan

On This Day In 1998 Cricket:

Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar reserved many of his best performances for arch-rivals Pakistan. During his glorious career for India, the legendary right-hander took on the Men in Green in 18 Test matches with 1,057 runs and two centuries. He also faced the neighbours in 69 One-Day Internationals and smashed 2,526 runs at an average of 40.09 with a strike-rate of 87.49, including 5 hundreds.

On January 14, 1998, however, Tendulkar not only shone with the bat in hand against Pakistan but also produced a crucial performance with the ball. Always a handy part-time bowler, who had previously also chipped in with crucial breakthroughs and saved the day for India on multiple occasions, Tendulkar took his bowling prowess

to another level in the first final of the 1998 Silver Jubilee Independence Cup in Dhaka.

Using great mix of off-spinners and leg-cutters, Tendulkar bagged figures of 3 for 45 against a Pakistani batting line-up known for playing an aggressive style of cricket in the 90s.

Tendulkar managed to dismiss the well-set duo of Ijaz Ahmed (34) and Inzamam-Ul-Haq (33) before rounding off his three-fer with the wicket of No.7 Manzoor Akhtar. Tendulkar emerged with the best figures by an Indian on the day as the team restricted Pakistan to 212/8 in a game curtailed to 46 overs per side.

During the run-chase, Tendulkar came out firing on all cylinders and hammered 95 off just 78 deliveries against an understrength but still incisive Pakistani attack of Aaqib Javed, Saqlain Mushtaq, Azhar Mahmood, Mushtaq Ahmed and Shahid Afridi.

The legend’s innings featured 6 fours and 5 sixes. His innings turned it into a one-sided contest on a dry and tricky surface in Dhaka.

At the other end, Tendulkar’s opening partner Sourav Ganguly played a composed innings of 68, while skipper Mohammad Azharuddin steered India to the finish line with an unbeaten 30 off 38 balls.

Tendulkar’s terrific all-round display earned him the player of the match award after he helped India take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three finals stage of the tri-series, which the Men in Blue eventually won 2-1.

The tournament began Tendulkar’s epic run of form in 1998, when he averaged 80.87 over 5 Tests with 3 centuries and also hammered 1,894 runs in 34 ODIs at an average of 65.31 with a strike-rate of 102.15 with 9 hundreds.